Insurance

"Haa... hngh... hehe..."

The coppery stench of blood flooded my mouth at the same moment a hot, viscous liquid surged back up my throat.

"Ueeek!!!"

The metallic taste coated my tongue; I couldn't stop retching.

That's a lot coming out.

Watching this much blood pour from such a small body always made the human form feel like something of a miracle.

"Cough, cough..."

My vision clouded over. The sounds in my ears receded farther and farther. My whole body felt as if it were floating free. The sense of gravity vanished, and I sank deeper and deeper, as though slipping beneath the surface of water...

...

...

"Ugh..."

I opened my eyes. Cold, sticky earth pressed against my back. Agony that felt ready to shatter my body washed through me, and in front of me floated a system window—beside it, Bella shouting something.

"You...! Are you okay...? What... is this...?"

Bella's lips were trembling. But I couldn't answer her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My pulse began to race out of control. My heart hammered as if it would burst. My entire body shook; something inside me seethed and boiled. I tried to draw breath, but my lungs felt heavy as lead. Air never reached my throat.

"Khuh...!"

Blood vessels stood out in my eyes. I clutched my throat with both hands and thrashed at empty air.

And then...

Again...

The thrashing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowed. My vision flickered and I sank once more into darkness.

And so I met death five times in a row.

...

"Puhah!!"

My heart started beating again. The instant consciousness returned I sucked in a ragged breath and forced myself upright.

Ugh... finally settling down a little.

Once when Bella stabbed me through the heart. Five times from the backlash of using an Evil God's authority. Six deaths in total.

Maybe because there hadn't been that many monsters? The backlash this time was lighter than expected. Two months ago, when I'd used it against the monsters on the front line, I'd died ten times straight and nearly burned through the last remaining life. Compared to that, this was almost gentle.

But only four lives left now. I had to be careful from here on.

"What the hell are you."

Bella's voice had gone ice-cold. When I lifted my eyes she was gripping her sword tightly. Her whole body was rigid; a sharp gaze locked onto me.

"What the hell are you."

Her hand trembled faintly. Disbelief, fear, and wariness mixed in her eyes. Fair enough. Coming back from the dead once was already grotesque; I had died and revived six times in a row right there on the spot.

"That isn't what matters right now."

I spoke while slowly steadying my breathing.

"There are still seven upper-class monsters left."

Bella kept staring at me over the edge of her sword, but her brows twitched at my words.

"If even one of them reaches the village, everyone living there dies."

"..."

Her expression hardened.

"Their target is me. We lure them this way and fight. I'll handle the other six somehow—just take one."

Bella still hesitated. Her blade remained pointed at me, swaying ever so slightly.

I raised a blood-smeared hand and looked at her steadily.

"Bella, trust me. No—Senior. Please trust me just this once."

She gave no answer. Her sword stayed leveled at me, knuckles white with force.

She still can't bring herself to trust me.

Of course she couldn't. Most beings fully infected by Contamination lose their sanity. Twisted, mad things closer to beasts—or monsters—than people. But there were exceptions.

Cultists of Contamination.

Trash whose natures were already so wicked and dark that Contamination left no mark on their souls. If they hid the fact that they were cultists, they were nearly impossible to tell from ordinary people. On the battlefield she must have been stabbed in the back dozens of times by people who had looked perfectly normal...

There was no way she could trust someone who still kept her mind while wrapped in Contamination.

So what I was about to do was necessary if I wanted to give her any reason to believe me.

I sighed and took one step closer.

"System."

I opened my palm and called up a system window above it.

The Death's Pact—normally forced on slaves to bind them to their masters.

I slowly held out my hand.

"If you still can't trust me, how about this?"

Bella looked briefly startled, then her face went blank again.

"Ha. What meaning does something like this even have?"

"What?"

She looked down at me with a cold expression.

"I felt the sensation of piercing your heart. And yet you came back to life, then died and revived again right in front of my eyes. How can you possibly think your life still holds any value?"

"Huh?"

I could only stare up at her, dumbfounded. A second's thought proved she was right. To a being capable of resurrection, life wasn't that precious.

And yet...

Bella looking down at me with that frigid face, declaring so firmly that my life has no value.

In its own way, that might actually be nice?

I shoved the frivolous thought aside and started turning over new ideas—when

Thud—

Her hand settled gently on top of my head.

"I'll trust you."

"What?"

"To screw those monster bastards over, I just have to help you, right?"

Bella still hadn't fully dropped her wary gaze, but the edge had softened compared to before.

"So you don't need to do something like this. I'll trust you."

With that she immediately swept the system window I had sent aside.

"You'll trust me? Really...?"

"In exchange, if we survive this place, I'm going to interrogate you thoroughly about what just happened."

The traces of a Contamination cultist that must have shown when I used the authority of malice. She had seen that and still said she would trust me?

A flicker of confusion hit me, but I quickly pulled myself together.

"You??? What are you doing?"

My heart felt as if it had dropped straight through the floor. A strange tremor ran through my whole body. She could take my life whenever she wanted. The moment I registered that fact, my mind went blank.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Excitement and a sharp, thrilling tension flooded every nerve. Even drawing breath made my senses blaze.

"I can't keep reviving forever. Use it whenever you think it's necessary. Hehe."

A contract that inflicted no loss on the other party could be applied unilaterally. In this case I was freely entrusting my life to her, so her consent wasn't required.

I needed to take out some insurance, after all.

Absolutely...

Absolutely not because I wanted to throw myself into the miserable situation of surrendering control over life and death and abandoning the right to choose for myself.

I really did have my own reasons.

Truly.

Anyway...

"Got any spare weapons? Even a dagger would do."

She stared at me as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if she couldn't understand, then finally handed over a dagger without further protest.

The air grew heavy. Rough breathing and the vibration of the ground rolling toward us from far away. I slowly closed my grip around the dagger. Bella did the same. She clenched her sword tightly, lips pressed into a thin line.

Tension stretched taut. Killing intent pressed in from every direction. Something was definitely approaching us from not far off.

They'll be here soon.

I rolled my neck lightly and glanced at Bella.

She won't suddenly try to kill me, right?

Dying right now would be a little inconvenient. Someone like me could throw her life away whenever it was needed, but I still wanted to push as far as I could.

For the ending of this story.

"Senior."

Bella turned her head on reflex.

"...In a little while you're going to see a somewhat unpleasant sight."

"...What?"

"Anyway, I warned you. Don't be too surprised."

For a moment Bella couldn't grasp the meaning. Could anything look worse than what she had just witnessed?

"You remember, right? Just take one upper-class monster. I'll handle the rest somehow."

"...Understood. I'll do as you wish."

Bella hesitated a fraction, then finally nodded. Strength visibly entered the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand gripping her sword. She was ready as well.

Good.

Six upper-class monsters to kill. Four lives remaining. It would be a little tight, but enough.

After all, I had spent roughly two years killing myself with effort for this.